The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Area finalists for Connecticut Book Awards
MIDDLETOWN — The Connecticut Center for the Book, a Connecticut Humanities program, announced the finalists for its 2018 Connecticut Book Awards.
These recognize and honor authors and illustrators who have created the best books in or about the state in the past year, according to a press release.
“Storytelling is as powerful a mechanism as ever in sharing places, cultures, histories and the human experience,” Lisa Comstock, director of the Connecticut Center for the Book said in a prepared statement.
“The Connecticut Book Awards honor those who, through the written word, engage, connect and enlighten us with their exemplary works.”
Between three and five finalists have been selected in each of five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Young Readers (Young Adult, and Young Readers — Juvenile). Five distinguished judges per category read each entry and reviewed works using rigorous criteria. A total of 140 books were submitted this year, up 28 percent over last year, the release said.
Fiction
Abby Fabiaschi, of West Hartford, “I Liked My Life”
Jane Green, of Westport, “The Sunshine Sisters”
Georgia Hunter, of Rowayton, “We Were the Lucky Ones”
Courtney Maum, of Norfolk, “Touch”
Connecticut native Rene Denfeld, of Portland, Oregon, “The Child Finder”
Nonfiction
Virginia DeJohn Anderson of Boulder, Colorado, “The Martyr and the Traitor — Nathan Hale, Moses Dunbar, and the American Revolution”
Duo Dickinson, of Madison and Steve Culpepper of New Haven, “A Home Called New England”
David Hays of Chester, “Setting the Stage: What We Do, How We Do It, and Why”
James C. Scott, of Durham, “Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States”
Poetry
Gina Athena Ulysse of Middletown, “Because When God is too Busy”
Jose B. Gonzalez of Quaker Hill, “When Love was Reels”
John Surowiecki of Amston, “Martha Playing Wiffle Ball in Her Wedding Dress”
Charles Rafferty of Sandy Hook, “The Smoke of Horses”
Young Readers — Young Adult
Jake Burt of Hamden, “Greetings from Witness Protection!”
Karen Romano Young of Bethel, “Whale Quest”
Sarah Albee of Watertown, “Poison”
Young Readers — Juvenile (includes authors and illustrators)
Gigi Priebe of New Canaan, “The Adventures of Henry Whiskers”
Lauren Baratz-Logsted of Danbury, “I Love You, Michael Collins”
Susan Hood of Southport, “Double Take! A New Look at Opposites”
Deborah Freedman of Hamden, “This House, Once”
Andrea Wisnewski of Storrs, “Trio, The Tale of a Three-legged Cat”
Winners will be announced at the 2018 Connecticut Book Awards ceremony Oct. 14 from 2 to 3 p.m. at Staples High School in Westport.
Okey Ndibe, the 2017 Connecticut Book Award winner for nonfiction, will deliver the keynote speech. A reception and book signing with this year’s winners, finalists, and Ndibe will immediately follow from 3 to 4 with all finalists’ and winners’ books will be available for purchase.
The awards ceremony and reception are open to the public, and conclude Westport Library’s Saugatuck StoryFest, a three-day literary festival and writers’ conference. Tickets purchased online at ctcenterforthebook.org before Sept. 15 are $20; then $25 through Oct. 11. Tickets will also be available at the door for $30.